High Efficiency of Food Waste Fermentation and Biohydrogen Production in Experimental-industrial Anaerobic Batch Reactor

Abstract

Background: Multicomponent organic waste is a significant environment hazard. Natural mechanisms can no longer ensure the processing of increasing volumes of such waste. The accumulation of multicomponent organic waste to environment pollution with toxic gases and leachate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective technologies for the rapid treatment of huge volumes of toxic waste. Moreover, multicomponent organic waste can be used as the substrate for the production of green energy - biohydrogen. Objective: To scale up the technology of biohydrogen production from multicomponent organic waste in experimental-industrial anaerobic batch reactor and to establish fermentation parameters of its operation. Methods: An experimental-industrial anaerobic batch reactor was designed and the method of thermodynamic prognosis was applied to determine the most effective microbial pathway for hydrogen synthesis. The efficiency of the fermentation was evaluated by the pH and redox potential (Eh, mV) of culture medium, the concentration and volume of synthesized gas. Results: The experimental-industrial anaerobic batch reactor with a volume of 240 L was successfully applied to scale up the process of obtaining hydrogen via fermentation of organics. The duration of the technological cycle (T) was 1.5-4 days. The coefficient of waste destruction (Kd) that is the ratio between the initial and final weight of waste was high and ranged from 86 to 140. Hydrogen yield was 45-90 L/kg of dry weight of waste. The maximum concentration of hydrogen (H2max) was 50-58%. Conclusion: The developed approach and scaling of the biotechnology is promising for industrial application for effective hydrogen production via dark fermentation of multicomponent organic waste. Its industrial application might help to solve the problem of toxic multicomponent organic waste destruction and simultaneously to produce green energy H2.